Shekhar Gupta presented Best Journalist Award

Chennai, 17 May: Shekhar Gupta, veteran media journalist, was today presented theRangaswami Parthasarathy Memorial Award for his contribution to the field of journalism. The award carries a Citation and cash prize of Rupees One Lakh. On this occasion, five scholarships worth Rupees One Lakh each were announced for deserving and economically backward students of the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai.

The award and the scholarships have been sponsored by the family of Rangaswami Parthasarathy (1915-2003) who was a doyen of Journalism and was associated with the newspaper industry for over 50 years, particularly with ‘The Mail’ and ‘The Hindu’. Mr. R.P. Ram Mohan, son and Mr. Madhav Narayan, grandson of RP have taken keen interest in perpetuating the memory of the doyen, while contributing to his first love – journalism by instituting these awards.

Shekhar Gupta, in his acceptance speech, thanked the committee for selecting him for this first award in memory of the veteran who was a multi-faceted journalist. He added “Indian Journalism has come a long way and is in the process of substantial change. The political environment, judiciary and many other factors have influenced the discipline significantly. Yet, I am happy that by and large the Indian press is free and fearless. This is what is expected from any newspaper/media.”

Mrs. Y G Parthasarathy, noted educationalist, Mr. N Ram, Chairman & Publisher, The Hindu Group also spoke at the function attended by many dignitaries and family members.